High School Hell
by Dark Metal Queen
Summary: Arthur, Francine, Buster, and Muffy start high school. The only thing is that they haven't seen each other for three years. What has happened in such a long time?  And will they make it through this awkward time in their lives? Please comment. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1:High School Hell

**Chapter One: High School Hell**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Arthur or Ice Queen by Within Temptation. **

**Enjoy.**

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><p>"<em>When leaves have fallen<br>And skies turned into gray.  
>The night keeps on closing in on the day<br>A nightingale sings his song of farewell  
>You better hide for her freezing hell,"~ Ice Queen, Within Temptation<em>

It was five-thirty in the morning and Francine was just finishing her cereal in the kitchen. Francine was now sixteen and starting her first day of high school. The next three years were going to be hell. Sophomores(first years)were at the bottom of the social totem pole and to make things worse she hadn't talked to any of her old friends in three years. She had no clue if any of them would recognize her and if they did how would they deal with the fact that she was now Punk. Now,at sixteen, she had several piercings(eight piercings in her ears, four in each one, eyebrow piercings, a nose ring, and spider bites, which she was particularly proud of) she had grown out her hair to shoulder length. Her older sister Catherine had insisted(in their earlier phone call a few minutes ago)that Francine wear her hair so that it was wavy. Their earlier conversation went like this:

_ "I'm serious Francine. You should seriously wear your hair like that. It'll even bring out the purple streaks you dyed into your hair."_

_ "Fine." Francine replied._

_ "So what are you wearing?Are you looking forward to your first day of high school?"_

_ "I am wearing my Sex Pistols t-shirt that I cut up so that the sleeves were off shoulder. My red tank top underneath it, my plaid pants. You know, the ones that cost three weeks of babysitting the Tibble Twins. And I am wearing my favorite customized black sneakers."_

_ "Okay. Good. Good. Now what about your feelings about school? About your friends?"_

_ "What friends? Muffy chased them all away with a nasty rumor back in eighth grade. Well Catherine I need to go now and get some breakfast to catch the bus on time."_

_ "Wait squirt. I meant to ask you. If you ever want to come and stay with me you can. I'll be there by the end of the week. Sunday by the latest. Alright?"_

_ "Okay. Bye Catherine."_

_ "Bye Francine."_

And so their conversation ended and Francine now found herself in the kitchen getting some breakfast. The cereal wasn't much but at least it would get her through until lunch. Now she just had to put on some eyeliner and mascara and then get some ice water in a water bottle to take with her to school.

It was now six forty-five and Francine had fifteen minutes before school started and classes began. She could spend five more minutes here at home before she had to leave to make it to school on time. Later in the day though, she would wish that she had left right then and there. Just then her mother and father had just come into the living room. It looked like her mom had just woken up, but that her dad had been up for hours. Francine thought that her dad must have gotten real lucky last night. It wasn't long before her father asked the unthinkable question, the question about her friends, and her so-called friend Muffy.

"Well how the hell am I supposed to know Dad! I haven't spoken to Muffy in three damn years," Francine shouted as she headed out the front door to catch the bus.

Her mother began to wag her finger at her youngest daughter threatening to wash her daughter's mouth out with soap. Francine had the front door to her apartment open and before she went out she angrily said: "I'm too old for that mother! I'd rather live with Catherine!" Francine then slammed the door and hurried down the sidewalk to the bus stop.

"God I fucking hate being in that family," she muttered to herself, "And why would they think I was even speaking to Muffy? Oh that right, she's supposed to be my best friend."

During her rant to herself a loud car horn beeps repeatedly and it was instantly familiar. Stopping right beside Francine was a shiny black limo, the kind that only belonged to the rich. There was only one rich family in Lakewood and everyone knew who they were.

"Well, well, well. Speak of the devil," Francine said.

The backseat window rolled down in a dramatic way. It was none other than Muffy Crosswire and she was dressed to the nines for the first day of high school.

"Hello Francine," Muffy said in a tone of superiority, "Are you going to school or the dump? Because by the way you're dressed it looks like you are destined for the trash."

"I see its just you in the backseat. Does that mean for once you don't have a desperate boy to go down on in there?" Francine retorted sarcastically.

"What, are you still on the rag?"

"At least I don't have to worry about my period being late."

"Virgin!"

"Whore!"

"Bitch!"

"You're lucky I don't smash open that car door and kick your fucking ass!"

"Oh, like I am so scared."

"You should be."

The truth is that Muffy was, which is why she said, "Bailey! Drive! Now! I'm sick of talking to this grody girl here." And so the limo sped off to the high school splashing muddy water all over Francine's new sneakers. Unfortunately the confrontation with Muffy caused Francine to miss the bus so she was forced to walk the rest of the way to school causing her to be ten minutes late for homeroom. The homeroom teacher looked nice enough but how would see handle the only Punk girl in her class? It wasn't the teacher that was surprising though. As Francine went to take her seat finding the only seat vacant in the back row, she saw that all her old friends were in the same homeroom class with her. Scattered around the room was Buster, Arthur, and Muffy.

"Take a seat Miss," the teacher sternly said.

So Francine took a seat in the back row in between a Hispanic looking girl and a boy who looked like a goblin. As the teacher took roll call things began to get tense as he got to Francine's, Arthur's, Buster's, and Muffy's name. At the sound of their names being called the four ex-friends stared at each other, none of them believing their own eyes.

After thirty or so minutes the teacher passed out all of their schedules, ten minutes after that class was over and they now had five minutes to get to their first period class. As the entire class was filing out the room Francine heard her name being called, as well as Muffy's name too. It was Buster who had called their names and Arthur was standing right next to him. Those two boys were acting like they had never been apart.

"Don't compare me to that piece of trash," Muffy said staring daggers at Francine.

"And you think I want to be compared with you. You're nothing but a fake dumb ass poser."

"Why I never..."

"Oh like anyone would believe that."

Buster whispered to Arthur what he thought was wrong with Muffy and Francine. Neither of them knew but just chalked it up to girls being confusing.

"You have to admit that Muffy looks hot now," Buster said.

"And so does Francine," Arthur said.

"What was that?" the girls shouted in unison. Francine just stormed up to Buster and pushes him against the broken locker.

"So you think that I'm not pretty. That I'm ugly?"

"N-no I didn't say that," Buster stammered.

"I think you're cute Francine," Arthur muttered.

"Why would you be cute. I'm the hottest sophomore at this school."

"More like the number one whore."

This continues until the bell rings and now they are are late to class. Unfortunately they all have the exact same classes together. Worst of all, first period was Algebra I with Mr. Ratburn. And no matter how hard the four of them tried none of them could take their minds off of seeing each other for the first time in three years. Arthur couldn't stop going over how such a normal morning had twisted into something completely different.

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><p>That morning Arthur awoke to the buzzing sound of his digital alarm clock. D.W(now twelve and entering sixth grade, her last year of grade school) opened the door and yelled in his ear as well saying that it was time for breakfast. Arthur said that he'll just get breakfast at school. It wasn't long before their nine year old sister Kate came barging into his bedroom.<p>

"Get out of my room!" Arthur said as he got out of bed in nothing but a t-shirt and old boxers with holes in them.

Kate and D.W just giggled at him.

"What's so funny?" he demanded.

"Your little friend is sticking out big brother."

Arthur looked down and realized there was a new hole in his boxers and very quickly he covers it with his right hand and with his free hand he shoos his little sisters away. He goes to his closet pulls out a faded blue hoodie and tattered jeans. His sneakers were old and muddied but they had never failed him before. Now all he had to do was carry is backpack heavy with books, binders, papers, and he would be all set to go. He looked at the clock.

"Six-fifty. Maybe mom or dad will drive me. I suddenly don't want to take the bus today."

He had good reason to not want to ride the bus today. Arthur had not seen any of his friends in three years. He had to transfer schools when he was in Jr. High and was forced away from all his best friends and forced to make new friends amongst the mathletes. He did not know if his friends had changed. Arthur had only changed somewhat, mainly in height, but he had still changed a little. He couldn't help but wonder if everyone else had changed to the point that they would never be friends again. These thoughts plagued him and so he came to the decision to have one of his parents drive him to school. And so he hurried out his room and down the steps and into the kitchen to ask his parents for a favor.

"Mom. Dad. Can one of you drive me to school?"

"Well I would son but you didn't have some of my delightful breakfast," his father said trying to guilt trip Arthur.

It worked.

"Mom, can you?"

I'm sorry Arthur dear, but I have an important client and I need to leave soon. You'll be fine on the bus won't you?"

"Yeah. I should probably get my stuff and leave then so I can catch the bus on time."

So Arthur glumly went back upstairs to get his backpack and came back downstairs to leave his safe haven of a house.

So Arthur walked and walked and walked the several blocks to the bus stop waiting for the bus to come that never will. He just kept walking to his high school and looked miserable once he finally set his eyes on the great big building. As he walked up to the large doors and went inside the school he went to the front office to get his locker combination and homeroom number. His locker got stuck a few times but on the last try he got it open and stuffed his books into it before slamming it closed and heading towards his homeroom class.

All was going fine, until he saw the punk girl walk into the class room who he thought looked familiar somehow but couldn't place where he had seen her before.

* * *

><p>Back in the present all four kids were heading for lunch unlike when they were in grade school they all went their separate ways. Buster went towards the jocks, Muffy with the preps, Francine with the stoners, and Arthur with his fellow outcasts. Arthur though couldn't help staring at Francine, especially as she got up with her new friends and started smoking cigarettes outside by the football field.<p>

"I didn't know she smoked," Arthur thought, "That's another thing that's changed. That and she's also punk. I wonder if we have anything in common anymore."

Before Arthur knew it he was falling for his old friend but did she feel the same way, he seriously doubted it.

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><p>"<em>Whenever she is raging<br>She takes all life away  
>Haven't you seen?<br>Haven't you seen?  
>The ruins of our world"<em>


	2. Chapter 2:The Rest of the Day

**Chapter Two:The Rest of the Day**

"_Betty Finn was a true friend and I sold her out for a bunch of Swatchdogs and Diet Cokeheads. Killing Heather'd be like offing the Wicked Witch of the West. Or is it East? West! God I sound like a fucking psycho. Tomorrow I'll be kissing her aerobicized ass but tonight let me dream of a world without Heather. A world where I am free." _Heathers_._

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><p>"So Buster, do you really know that hot chick sitting with those girls," one of the jocks asked Buster.<p>

"Yeah. We used to be best friends when we were in grade school," he says as he absentmindedly takes a bite from his moldy brownie, "Boy I'd give anything for things to simple like it was then. Maybe aliens have turned them all into different people."

"Aliens?"

"You believe in aliens?"

"Look man, this is high school. There are certain things that change from grade and Jr. high. For one you can't go saying that you believe in aliens," another jock said.

"And there are certain people you can't hang out with. Like that kid with the big glasses," the one sitting besides Buster said.

Buster turns around and sees that they are pointing to Arthur.

"You mean Arthur, but he was my best friend while we were kids. I can't just blow him off."

"That dork will be fine. Now what you should be doing is getting us introduced with that girl Muffy," the jock said as the rest agreed.

Buster gives in and says he'll try and then he sighs wishing he didn't have to break off his friendship with his best friend. He then took a gulp from the carton of milk and excused himself from his jock friends telling them that he will break the news to Arthur now. Buster gets a loud cheer from them when he says this and with a glum look on his face he walks over to the table where Arthur is.

_ "So this is the outcast table. I don't want to end up here,"_ Buster thinks to himself,_ "I'll just take Arthur outside into the hallway. That way this can be fast and won't he won't be humiliated in front of half the school. Maybe this is why they school eats in shifts. I don't know. No time to focus on that, Arthur is looking at you now. Wave, wave, say hello."_

"Hey Buster. You want to join us?" Arthur asks.

"No. I can't. I just came to say, can we please talk in the hall outside the cafeteria?"

"Sure. Is anything wrong?"

_"Oh no! He's on to me!" _Buster worries in his head, _"But I can't stop now, the guys at my table are cheering even harder. I wonder how Arthur will take it. I know for sure not good."_

The jocks at the table were going into a frenzy as they watched Buster take Arthur into hall. They wanted desperately to know what was being said but they would get Buster to tell them once he came back into the cafeteria. Right now they watched the scene play out as if it was a 1920s silent film. Now Buster and Arthur were out in the hall and Buster was sweating bullets while Arthur remained cool under pressure, but this would not last for long. Buster removed his jacket to see if it would cool himself down, it did not, but it did seem to help a little. Arthur asks what is bothering his friend and all Buster can do is stammer and stammer repeatedly.

"Look Arthur, I better get this out before I run out like a chicken," Buster says quickly, "I can't be friends with you anymore. Its not my idea but my new friends say I can't be friends anymore. I am so sorry. Can you please understand?"

Arthur looks defeated and he gazes back into the cafeteria seeing the jocks laugh like jackals and it looks like they were laughing at him. Arthur didn't want to show weakness or anger or sadness but he felt all those feelings at once and they couldn't help but bubble to the surface and what came out of him was anger and he couldn't control it.

"Well fine! I don't want to be your friend anymore! Just leave me alone and don't bother me!" Arthur shouted.

Buster looked taken aback, he was fighting sadness as well but unlike Arthur Buster's anger didn't come exploding out of him.

"Okay. Fine. I guess I'll see you in gym class next period," Buster sadly said.

The two boys enter the cafeteria and go their separate ways back to their own table. The jocks back at Buster's table couldn't stop laughing and kept asking him to go over what had happened with his ex-friend over and over again. Tiredly, Buster did and when he could not tell the story anymore he let is eyes wander over to Arthur's table. Even though it hadn't been long since their dissolving of their friendship, Buster already missed Arthur horribly. When he looked over at Arthur's table though he saw that Arthur was now all alone with no one beside him. Buster wondered what had happened but he had no time to think of that, the bell suddenly rang and it was time for gym.

Normally Buster loved gym but all he could think about was Arthur and all the old memories they had shared. These memories distracted him and because of this he kept on getting hit by balls, untied tennis shoes, and various other equipment. This was especially brutal when they had to run the mile out on the track outside. It was sweltering outside and no one wanted to be outside. Buster was lagging behind everyone else and was finally on the last lap(the fourth one)but he kept stopping every few minutes, the thought at what he had done earlier caused him to feel sick. By the time he finished the mile Buster actually got sick. He vomited all over the track. The gym teacher got angry with Buster for vomiting but reluctantly sends him to the nurse and Buster couldn't be more relieved so he ran back inside and to the nurse as fast as he could.

"Now why couldn't he have run like that during the mile?" The coach complained aloud.

In the nurse's office Buster lay on the leather cushioned bed hoping this nausea would pass soon but all that came was more and more guilt. He wouldn't tell the nurse what had happened except that he became sick during the mile run. So the nurse just sent for someone from his class to come in to shed some light on what had happened and ten minutes later Muffy came in.

"Nurse," Muffy said in a condescending way, "Can you please leave? Maybe I can get something out of Buster that way."

"Alright, but I will be back in exactly five minutes," and so the nurse left to go to her regular office next door.

Muffy tells Buster to sit up, which he does, and this time was the first time he noticed what Muffy was wearing. She was wearing a short miniskirt that gave anyone a peepshow if she bent down. She also wore a belly shirt that also showed too much cleavage which made sure that she would get all the boys' attention. Her hair was like Jessica Rabbit's hair and Muffy wore four inch heals that made her look like a prostitute.

"You know Buster, you did the right thing by blowing Arthur to the curb. He was holding you back. That's why I had to do the same thing with Francine back in Jr. High," Muffy said.

"Well I just feel rotten. I can't be as heartless as you," he says miserably and absentmindedly.

"Is that anyway to talk to your new girlfriend?"

"When did I agree to that?"

"Just now!"

And Muffy frenched kissed him and was about to do more if the nurse hadn't come in at that moment. The nurse told Muffy to leave and said to leave Buster alone. Buster then laid down again only wanting the sweet bliss of sleep.

"If you don't feel better in the next half hour or so, do you want me to send you home?" the nurse asked.

"Yes," Buster said, "Yes please. Can I go home now though?"

"Sure. Let me just call your mother."

And so she did and Buster got to go home early.

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><p>Back when Arthur lost his cool with Buster and they went back into the cafeteria and in separate directions, Arthur was still fuming. He kept thinking how could his best friend do this but then he realized that Buster was no longer his friend. So Arthur went back to his table bust his new friends looked indifferent. As Arthur sat down his new friend stood up and began to walk away.<p>

"Hey! Wait! Why are you leaving?" Arthur called out to them.

"We don't associate with jock rejects," the shortest one said.

"But I'm not a reject."

Arthur was now all alone without any friends at all. He felt all the eyes of everyone on him. Their eyes bore into him, mocking him with their superiority and their own friends. The first day of high school had already turned into hell he wondered what the next two years would be like. Five or so minutes of sitting alone in his sorrow Arthur decided to just leave the cafeteria. He thought any other place would be better than the place he was now. But where to go, where to go? Arthur looked around him. The hallway was out, same with any of the classrooms, but then he saw Francine again. She was still outside smoking away.

_"Maybe I could hangout with Francine,"_ Arthur thought, _"Maybe we can be friends again."_

Arthur then got up and walked out the cafeteria and towards the end of the football field where his old friend was. As he got closer to her and her group of friends he noticed that they were beginning to glare at him, that they were judgeing him. He also saw that Francine's back was toward him and that when he was just a few feet away one of the boys beside her had to tap her shoulder to get her attention on Arthur. "What?" was what Arthur heard her say before seeing what her friend was pointing to. She took a drag from her cigarette and when Arthur was right in front of her she said, "What do you want Arthur?" A few other kids sniggered at this.

"You know him," another punk girl asked.

"I used to," Francine answered, "I said, what do you want? Can't you answer a question?"

"Do you have an extra cigarette," Arthur asked.

"You smoke?" Francine asked then she shrugged her shoulders, dug into the side pocket of her backpack and pulled out her pack of cigarettes and her tie-dyed colored lighter, then she gave them to Arthur, "Here."

One of Francine's friends placed her arm on her shoulder, like it was an armrest, like what some friends do, and asks her if she is going to introduce them to her friend.

"Right. Arthur this is Theodore, Kat, Al, and Ophelia."

Arthur finishes lighting his cigarette and hands back the pack and lighter back to Francine. This was his first smoke and so he fought the urge to cough out his lungs and vomit. He didn't understand how anyone could pick up this habit but if Francine could handle it then so could he. Her friends seemed to chuckle at him but he blew it off saying to himself that it was just his imagination.

"So francine what have you been up to for the past few years?" Arthur asks.

"That's what you start with as a question. Let's just say I've been to hell and back."

"Its so obvious that Francine is crushing on this kid Arthur," Ophelia whispered to Theodore.

Francine heard this though and denied this, flicked her cigarette onto the ground, and crushed it beneeth her foot. She took a deep breath and said, "So are we skipping class or what?"

"Sure," the boy named Al said, then he turned to Arthur and asked, "You comeing with us?"

Arthur contemplated this for a few moments, went over the pros and cons, but in the end decided to go with them. Really he only went because of Francine, deep down he knew that, but he tried to justify it by saying he just wanted some actual friends, some people to hang out with. So he copied what Francine did with her cigarette and stanped it out on the ground. Then he followed the other kids and walked away from the football field and off the school campus.

"So where are we headed," he asked.

"We usually go whereever we feel like," Theodore said in a bored type of voice, "There's a forest not too far from here. Lets go there."

And so they all went into the neighboring forest and go deep inside it not stopping until they get to the tallest, tree with the greenest leaves. They all sat under it, all except Theodore who just wanted to climb up to the highest branch on the tree. Arthur asked them which grades they were in, he found out that Theodore and Ophelia were Seniors(third years), that Al was a Junior(second year), and that Kat was a Sophmore like Francine and Arthur. Kat sat right beside Francine gigling at who knows what but Arthur wanted to know more about what happened with Francine over the past few years and the first question he decided to ask was the safest one he could think of.

"How's your family?"

"Fine," was what she said, "Parents are the same and Catherine's in college with a place of her own. Any other questions?"

Athur didn't know how to respond to her newfound sarcasm but soon he ended up overhearing a conversation between her and Kat. It went like this:

"Its okay if you like him. Arthuro es muy bueno chico."

"I do not like him. He's just an old friend," Francine denied or tried to deny but could not.

"Its okay," Ophelia said, "We're not going to judge you because of it. We're not like those posers at school. We're not that girl Muffy."

Francine flinched at the sound of Muffy Crosswire's name.

"If you asked me you dodged a bullet there by not being friends with her anymore," said Al as he swung down from a lower tree branch and landed gracefully on his feet, "She seems like a bitch."

"What do you think Arthur," Kat asked, "Or if it bothers you how do you feel about Francine? Do you fancy her too? Are you crushing on her?"

Arthur didn't know how to anwser to that so he just stayed silent for the moment. Francine's friends took this as a yes though, of which of course they were right. How does one tell someone else that they like them though, was all he could think of.

_"Maybe I could invite her back to my place. It could be like old times, like when we were kids,"_ Arthur thought, _"But what if she says no? What if she doesn't like me back? The least I could do is try and this could be a better chance to get to know her again. I could get to know the new Francine, if she'll let me. I'd better ask her now before I lose my nerve."_

Arthur then tapped Francine on her shoulder and she whipped around so fast he almost got a whiplash. She asked him what he wanted now. Nervously he said, "Do you want to come and hang out at my house after school? It could be like old times." Francine just stammered nercously not sure what to say as a reply but her firend Kat pushed her to say next. She told her to go for it, so Francine did and said yes to Arthur.

…**...**

As soon as school was over Arthur and Francine walked to Arthur's house taking their time to get there. It was around four in the afternoon when they finally got there and Francine made a comment that the outside had not changed much at all, even though it had been quite a few years since she had been here at Arthur's house. He said that it wasn't really the house that changed just the people inside it. His mother now worked an an office, his father still worked as a caterer but was home more often, and his two younger sisters had gotten more annoying as they were entering their pre-teen years, especially D.W.

"Lovely," Francine said sarcastically.

"Well lets go inside."

They walked up the sidewalk to the front door, Arthur pulled out his keys and unlocked it and allowed Francine to enter his home first. Nothing changed much inside the house either but running through the hall was D.W chasing after her was Kate and trying to keep up with those two was the father(Mr. Read) however the three of them came to a screeching halt once they saw Francine. They couldn't stop staring at her new appearance, at her piercings, her clothes, everything about her.

"So Arthur, who's your new friend?" Mr. Read asked nervously almost as if he was about to be attacked.

"Actually she's an old friend dad," Arthur said, "This is Francine."

"Francine?"

Francine?

"Who?"

The 'who' was from Kate who really did not remember Francine at all but D.W and his father most definitely did and were shocked at how she looked now. So she just crossed her arms across her chest and said, "Come on Arthur, lets just go to your room." Arthur agreed and his father said he'd bring up some snacks for the two of them later. Arthur just managed a 'Thanks,' to his dad and then heard his sister D.W say that Francine was weird now. When they were ginally in his room they threw the backpacks on the floor and Francine perched herself on his desk and Arthur sat on his still unmade bed.

"Your room hasn't changed much either. Except maybe a few posters on your wall," Francine commented.

"Not all of us can change completely," Arthur muttered to himself.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Nothing. I didn't say anything."

An awkward silence soon followed and something needed to be said.

_"I hope she doesn't leave," _he thinks to himself,_ "Say something! Say something! Anything!"_

"So why aren't you and Muffy friends anymore?"

"Do you really want to know?" she said in a dark way.

"Yes."

"In Jr. High she started a rumor about me that wasn't true. Several in fact. To keep it short, do you think doing this makes you a whore?"

"Doing what? What did―" but she stopped him midsentance with a kiss. They didn't stop both of them got very into the kiss. The door sometime later squeeks open.

"What the heck!" Mr. Reed says and the kids immediately pull apart, "I'm just going to leave now and take these tea sandwiches with me."

"So, do you like me?" was all that Francine said.


	3. Chapter 3: After School

**Chapter Three: After School**

**Sorry I haven't posted a chapter in awhile, I hope you like this one though.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song Trying by Molotov Jukebox or My Immortal by Evanescence.**

* * *

><p>"<em>I feel like I'm half complete<em>

_Trying to find my place in the sun and run and I run and I run but I can't compete_

_My friends say I'm fine but I'm fraying at the seams_ _and I just can't sleep_

_My nightmares I keep through the day and they won't go away_

_And I taste defeat_

_Obsessed restless mind_

_I wish I knew the right way to fill out my time_

_but I let the alcohol flow and I put on a show but you know_

_I'm trying, so hard, I'm trying, so hard, I'm trying, so hard, I'm" ~Trying Molotov Jukebox_

* * *

><p>Just when Arthur was about to speak his father came bursting back in his room again. Mr. Reed did not look angry per se but he did not happy either. He slammed down the tray of sandwiches on the table causing the sandwiches to fall on the floor. He gathered up Francine's backpack and angrily threw it out the door(scattering its contents everywhere)and said:<p>

"Out! Out! I'm not having some...some goth girl making out with my son! You were fine when you were eight or ten or whatever it was but don't came back until you are normal!"

"Dad! No!" Arthur exclaimed, "I like Francine. And she's punk not goth."

"Yeah. I'm not depressed and I don't wear all black," Francine added, "I'll see you at school tomorrow Arthur."

And so Francine left his room, gathered up her backpack and left the Read home. Mr. Read meanwhile, sat his son on his bed and he sat right beside him. His father wondered how to go about this up to this point he never knew his son was interested in girls but then again how could he be so oblivious to the changes in his own son.

Arthur shifts uncomfortably. What did his father want to say to him? He was just staring at him. This is probably about him walking in on him and Francine kissing, Arthur figured. He wondered when his mom would get home, he was always slightly closer to his mother than his father especially as he entered his horrid teen years.

"So...Arthur...Let's talk about sex," his father slowly said.

Arthur immediately got nervous and his father got even more nervous. Both of them started fidgeting and stammering uncontrollably, Arthur just looked at his poster. This awkwardness was beginning to be to much though and someone had to speak again.

"Dad, when's mom coming home," Arthur asked, "I think I'd rather wait to have this conversation with her."

"Okay," Mr. Read said, "It might be better that way. She'll be back by this evening."

And so he left leaving his son to think about his short visit with Francine. Arthur began pacing up and down his room thinking about what had happened. She had just suddenly kissed him, it was his first kiss to be in fact and he was glad that it had been with his old friend.

_"Do I like her? Don't I like her,"_ He debated in his head."

_Then his thoughts began to argue._

_ "What if what Muffy said was true?"_

_ "It can't be true. Ever since we were kids in grade school Muffy had always felt she was better than everyone else and was not above hurting people to get what she wanted. So Francine can't be a whore."_

_ "Then again what would people think if I suddenly started dating a punk chick?"_

_ "Why do you care?"_

_ "I want to be liked."_

_ "Isn't it better to be accepted by people who don't care about who you are seeing and who you spend your time with?"_

This continued for hours and hours until night night fell upon the house. Not long Arthur started hearing footsteps come up the stairs and to his bedroom. Then he heard a knock and the loving sound of his mother's voice. He said that she could come in when she asked if she could do so and she sat down at his desk asking him what had happened at school and what was wrong.

"School was fine, I guess."

"You guess? High school is one of the best times in your life. Honey tell me what happened. All your father said was that Francine came over and that he caught you two kissing," Mrs. Read said before muttering, "And that he thinks that she's a freak now."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," she quickly said, "Now tell me what has happened today."

"I guess I should start when it all started to go wrong," Arthur began, "It was at lunch. Buster took me out to the hall and told me we could be friends. When I went back to the cafeteria my new friend blew me off as well. They said I was a jock reject and that they don't associate with rejects."

"I'm so sorry honey," his mother said patting her son on the shoulder, "Then what happened?"

Arthur scratched his head in thought, thinking about what to say next and how to say it. Finally he found a way.

"Well I decided that maybe I could become friends again with Francine. Muffy was out since she had turned to the dark side and is now turning into the meanest girl in school. So I went out to the football field to where Francine was with her new punk friends."

"And then you skipped the rest of your classes."

Shocked, Arthur asked how she knew that.

"Your school left a message that you had not attended your other classes. And that you now have three days worth of lunch detention."

Arthur then went into how later he and Francine made plans to hang out after school. When they came back here he commented on how Kate, D.W, and Dad did not recognize or take in Francine's new appearance well. Then he said that they came back up to his room and started talking, saying that Muffy had caused several rumors about Francine in Jr. High, making her an outcast. Then him and Francine kissed and later that Dad had caught them and thrown Francine out. And now Arthur was finally finished with his tale.

Mrs. Read now sat next to her son and gave him a quick hug.

"Well there's not much I can do about the friends issue but I can talk to your father and allow Francine back. However I will had this rule, no more girls in your room. I don't want to become a grandma at this age."

"Okay mom."

"Good, dinner is almost here. We ordered pizza. Your father was too upset about what had happened with you and him and Francine."

Mrs. Read exited her son's room, Arthur felt a little better. Ever since he had entered his pre-teens and teen years he had always felt better when talking to his mother. This with his father had gotten tense when he turned fourteen.

Thirty minutes later he headed downstairs and to the dining room to find three boxes of pizza. One was pepperoni, the other with cheese, and the third with all of those toppings including sausage, pineapple, peppers, and mushrooms.

Mr. Reed was still a bit angry but he still asked if his children had any homework. They said yes and Arthur was excused early to do his Algebra homework that Ratburn assigned.

* * *

><p>Francine walked home and when she finally arrived she had the strongest feeling that she wished her childhood cat Nemo was still alive. Her parents were waiting in the kitchen though and they looked angry. She figured at least her father would perk up once he got laid tonight. They called her over to them and began by saying that they were deeply disappointed in her and that they knew that she had skipped her last few classes of the day.<p>

"Yeah I skipped my classes. You two never seemed to care when I was in Jr. High," Francine said.

"That's enough back talk young lady," Mrs. Frensky said.

"Your mother's right Francine," her father said, "This isn't like last year. This isn't like you. You haven't been your normal self in years."

"Everybody changes dad."

"I said enough of that," her mother said, "You don't don't stop that and start going to class we might just take Catherine up on her offer."

Francine's face lit up.

"You mean I can live with Catherine?"

"Only as a last resort," Mr. Frensky said.

Her parents looked worried as if sending their younger daughter to live with her sister was more of a reward than a punishment. Then they had decided it was time to tell her what the Reads had told them earlier in a phone conversation.

"Franny," her dad said carefully, "Mr. read called and said that he caught you and his son Arthur kissing and we wanted to talk to you about it."

"You're not allowed over there anymore," he mother said in a rushed tone.

"Nothing happened mom, dad. Unless you're beginning to believe those lies those kids told about me in Jr. High."

Her parents said of course not but that they didn't want her to go over to the Reads' house anymore.

"You can't stop me from seeing Arthur. We'll still see each other at school," and so Francine stormed off to her room and slammed the door like every other angst filled teenager in America. She went over to her new desk and decided to try and e-mail Catherine. After all Catherine was one of the few girls shew trusted, even if she was her sister. Online her sister went by Cath(the reason why was because of that one Death Cab For Cutie song called "Cath"). Maybe she could move in with her now.

Here's how the email went:

_Catherine, can I please come and live with you now. Things over here are hell. I will tell you when you come over here by the end of the week. We could go and get ice cream or smoothies and the Sugar Bowl._

The last part of her conversation with Arthur came back to her mind which reminded her of what had happened in Jr. High.

…**...**

It could have been in February or December or October. All Francine could remember about when this happened was that it was it the winter or fall months. Oh, but she remembered where it happened and the time. Those were the parts that were burned into her memory, this is one of the events that helped shape what she had become.

The time was 11: 47 am and the first lunch shift was almost over. That day Muffy had talked Francine into leaving class early to go to lunch even earlier. Francine went to her small bottom locker to put her books away and then went into the crowded cafeteria to go to lunch but as she got in there, she saw through the window that Muffy was outside sitting on the rickety, old, and only school bench. Muffy waved at Francine calling her over to her. Francine hurried out and sat beside her soon to be enemy.

Muffy dug out some lip gloss out of her backpack and handed it to Francine.

"Why are you giving me this?" Francine asked.

"Because it a parting gift and you need some help in looking pretty," Muffy said.

"Are you moving? Can we still stay in touch?"

Muffy laughed and it wasn't a very nice laugh either. She patted Francine's hand as if she were talking to a terminally ill patient.

"No silly. Nothing like that," she said, "Its just that, well. You're out."

"What? What the hell do you mean by that?"

"You're just not good for me and after careful decision and asking my friends. We've decided that you are out. We took a vote on it for good measure. I'm sorry."

"If you were sorry you wouldn't be doing this," Francine angrily said as she stood up, "What happened to the friend I used to have?"

"Well she is gone. Now I'm afraid we're going to have to part ways."

"NO! And here keep your stupid lip gloss. Its ugly like you anyways."

"You can't back talk to me like that!" Muffy exclaimed, "You know I can ruin you now."

"I don't care Princess Heartless," Francine said, "In the words of Sakura Haruno, I won't lose to you!"

"You'll regret this!"

"Like a scab that refuses to heal!"

Muffy just storms away and begins spreading rumors about Francine. Francine on the other hand just gathers up her things into her backpack and skips the rest of the school day. She goes to the movie theater nearby the Jr. High(about ten or so blocks away)and sneaks into the latest horror flick.

…**...**

Francine woke up and she now had to start on her Algebra homework in the middle of the night.

Question 1: The sum of two numbers is 16. The difference is 4. What are the two numbers?

Let x be the first number. Let y be the second number

x + y = 16

x - y = 4

"Uhh...I think I'll skip question one. Maybe I'll try question two."

Question 2: A ladder 13ft long leans against a wall. The bottom of the ladder is 5ft from the wall. How much would the lower end of the ladder have to be pulled away so that the top end would be pulled down by 2 ft?

Francine decided to skip that question too but she found that each question was getting progressively hard as she went on. In the end she managed to get four questions done(which she was sure were wrong anyway)and got about five and a half hours of uneven sleep.

* * *

><p>It was late at night when Muffy arrived at her massive home. All she wanted was to go to bed but she knew that was not going to happen. First she had to dress up for dinner and deal with her older brother who had dropped out of college and was now living with them again. Normally she would love this, but ever since she turned thirteen her brother had grown disappointed with her and Muffy did not know why. Muffy went upstairs to her bedroom and changed into something regal looking but then she started thinking. It wasn't just her brother who was acting different around her, it was Bailey and her mother and her father and this perplexed Muffy to no end. Finally she was decent enough to come downstairs and eat with her family in the dining room.<p>

For dinner there was some unknown European food that the chef had never cooked and served before. Mrs. Crosswire must have picked out the meals again. Suddenly all Muffy wanted was some vodka.

_"Beer is for poor people," _Muffy thought to herself.

She knew her mom and dad wouldn't care as long as they didn't catch her drinking themselves but again, her brother did care.

So far no one at the table was talking and someone had to break the silence.

"Chip, how was work," Muffy asked

"Yes, how was work?" Mr. Crosswire asked as well.

Chip just moved his food around on his plate, took one bite of it, and finally spoke.

"The life of a grocery bagger is never dull," Chip replied sarcastically, "I get more money selling pot."

Mr and Mrs. Crosswire gasped and so did Muffy. They all just stared at their son.

"I'm kidding. You should be worrying about Muffy. With the way she dresses and acts she could get knocked up before she's eighteen."

Muffy's insulted, same with mother and father, and tells her brother that it isn't going to happen.

"Really little sister? How many boys have you sucked their"

"Chip, stop it!" their mother cried out.

"How many boys have you had sex with? Do you really think I want to ask this? No, but mom and dad won't. And they don't seem to care that with the way you act toward your friends will ultimately wind you up with no one."

"You can go son," their father said, "You too sweetheart."

So the two siblings left and went upstairs. When they were out of their parents hearing range Muffy asked her brother why he hates her so much.

"I don't hate you. I just hate the girl you have become. I got enough of that when I was in college and father kept sending letters about what you have done," Chip says as he hurries down the hall to his room and shuts the door quickly.

"What does he know?" Muffy says with arms crossed, "I think I'll go call Buster."

She goes into her bedroom and dials Buster's home number and lounges on her bed instead of doing her homework.

"Hello Mrs. Baxter is Buster there...Oh, he can't come to the phone...He's sick...He doesn't want to speak to me...Okay I'll just see him at school. Bye."

Now all Muffy could do was lie awake and try to sleep, but sleep did not come easily, it was tainted with bad memories. In the middle of the night she got up and found her old journal from when she was in Jr. High and found the page she was looking for by accident. It read:

_8__th__ December,_

_ I had to do it. I had to cut off my friendship with Francine. She deserved it. After all she told my secret, the one about me and my teacher. Francine had no right to do that. I remember exactly when I decided this, it was during third period. Me, Talia, Diana, Darren, and Zita were all in the back row I asked them to take a vote._

_ "Okay Francine killed my dog. Its time to decide who is out of our group. Francine or that foreign kid? Write your answer on a scrap of paper, fold it, and then pass it to me. Got it?"_

_ They all said yes and once done passed their answers to me. Then I counted the results. _

_ Three to vote out Francine, yet two for the foreign kid. I guess its decided, Francine is out! I'll go tell her at lunch today. _

_ When I told Francine she completely overreacted and started back talking to me. I didn't take that. So I got even. I told the nearest person inside that she had sex with the math teacher and that's why she was passing. Then I said that she was part of an incest relationship with her sister and after that I said that she killed a dozen people when she was eight. _

_ Within a week she was ruined and no one wanted to be around her. Does that make me a bad person, I don't think so._

…**...**

Finally Muffy was able to sleep happily and she now dreamed of Buster.

* * *

><p>Mrs. Baxter showed up at the high school in about thirty minutes. Her boss wasn't too angry at her for having to leave work early, but he like Buster so he made an exception. When she finally signed her son out of school the school nurse helped Buster into the front passenger seat. Then the nurse called Mrs. Baxter away from her son to speak with her in private.<p>

"Mrs. Baxter, I'm sorry we had to meet like this but I think there is something else bothering him. I think that is what caused him to become sick," the nurse calmly said, "If you can get whatever is on his mind out of him, Buster may start to feel better."

"Alright nurse, thank you," Mrs. Baxter said tried to be as calm as the nurse was.

Mrs. Baxter returned to the car and drove her son home. She said that she had to go back to work and then she be home at around five in the afternoon. Before she left she left Buster a note. It read:

_Buster, son, I love._

_ Please tell me what's going on._

_ Its not good to keep things bottled up inside._

_ Get some rest._

_ -Love mom_

All Buster did was sleep into darkness never wanting to dream again.

* * *

><p>"<em>I'm so tired of being here<em>

_Suppressed by all my, childish fears_

_And if you have to leave_

_I wish that you would just leave_

_Cause your presence still lingers here_

_And It won't leave me alone," ~My Immortal, Evanescence_


End file.
